Fabrication of Polycrystalline Si Thin Film for Solar Cells

The a-Si/poly-Si thin film tandem solar cell is a promising candidate for low-cost solar cells. We have conducted R&D on poly-Si thin film using the Solid Phase Crystallization (SPC) method from amorphous silicon (a-Si). To improve the film quality of SPC poly-Si, we have developed a new SPC method called the partial doping method. This method features two stacked starting a-Si layers, a P-doped layer and a non-doped layer. Nucleation occurs in the P-doped layer, and the non-doped layer is the crystal growth layer. For the nucleation layer, we developed a Si film with a unique structure, which features relatively large crystallites (-1000A) embedded in a matrix of amorphous tissue. By combining these technologies, a conversion efficiency of 9.2% was obtained for poly-Si thin-film solar cells. For further improvement in the conversion efficiency, based on the concept of “independent control of nucleation and crystal growth”, it is necessary to combine the best fabrication methods for each layer. A high conversion efficiency of more than 12% was found possible by using the CVD method and a new back surface reflection structure.